Family Legacy
by mum-to-you
Summary: Where did Ginny get that simply corking Bat-Bogey Hex anyway? Updated with a more correct Bat-Bogey Hex.


Family Legacy

Molly Weasley happened to glance out the kitchen window just in time to see her three youngest boys streak across the back yard. Left standing alone in the middle of the yard was her youngest, seven-year-old Ginny. She was stamping her feet, and tears of frustration were streaming down her freckled cheeks.  
  
"Oh dear," thought Molly, "what have the boys done now?" She went to the door and called Ginny inside.  
  
Ginny was beside herself with anger. "Mummy, I hate boys! I mean, except Daddy, of course. But I hate, hate, hate all the rest of them!"  
  
Molly knew that giving way to the smile that was hovering around her hips would be the exact wrong thing to do, so she just nodded sympathetically. "Tell me what happened, love," she encouraged.  
  
"They're horrid, Mummy! First Fred and George took my doll Belinda and hexed purple spots all over her face. And just now—" Ginny burst into sobs. "—Mummy, they never, ever let me play with them! Ron called me a useless little twit, and then they all started throwing yard gnomes at me, and one bit me on the finger. See?"  
  
Sure enough, the finger was red and swollen. Molly held Ginny's little hand in hers, kissed the hurt finger, and then tapped it once with her wand. In an instant, it was as good as new.  
  
Molly knew very well what it was like to be the youngest girl in a family of rambunctious boys. She smiled at her daughter and said, "Ginny, come with me. I know how to solve this problem once and for all."  
  
Curious, Ginny followed her mother up the stairs to her parents' bedroom and watched silently as Molly rummaged through the large wooden chest at the foot of the bed. "Aha!" she declared, "Here it is!"  
  
Ginny just gaped as Molly turned and handed her, of all things, a wand. Ginny's eyes grew big. "Mummy, I'm not supposed to have that," Ginny whispered.  
  
"Bosh!" said Molly, "The Ministry don't even bother with children who aren't in school yet. Once you're at Hogwarts, they're much more watchful." She took a deep breath and looked down at Ginny, "This was your Uncle Gideon's wand, and now I'm giving it to you."  
  
Ginny smiled apprehensively, then sighed, "But Mummy," Ginny said sadly, "I don't know any spells yet."  
  
Molly smiled down at Ginny's woeful expression and patted the bed next to her. "Sit down, love. Don't forget that you are as much a Prewett as you are a Weasley, and this is by way of a family spell—well, a hex, really—that your Grandmother Prewett taught me when I was just a little older than you are now. She had older brothers, too, you see. Prewett family tradition, I guess.  
  
"And not a word of _that_ to your father, mind. He likes taking credit for you, I think," Molly grinned conspiratorially. "That'll just have to be our little secret."  
  
Ginny giggled and asked skeptically, "You're really and truly going to teach me a hex?"  
  
"I most certainly am," Molly replied tartly. "Stand up, and don't point that thing anywhere." Ginny stood up expectantly.  
  
"First, just repeat the words after me: _Chiroptera Mucosa_."  
  
Ginny repeated the words back to her mother several times. "That's it. You're bound to be a natural," Molly said. "Now let me show you. I'll go easy on you, but it might smart a bit. There's really no other way to do it."  
  
Molly took out her own wand, pointed it at Ginny, and said the same words, "_Chiroptera Mucosa_." Instantly, the hex enlarged little Ginny's bogeys. They sprouted wings and began flying around her face. Quickly before the girl could be hurt, Molly waved her wand again and said, "_Finite Incantatum_."

Ginny wrinkled up her nose. "Ugh, Mummy. That's disgusting!"  
  
"Isn't it though?" Molly smiled. "That, my dear, is the Bat-Bogey Hex. Don't you think it would be even more remarkable on, say, George's lovely face?" Molly grinned at her mischievously.  
  
Ginny chewed on her lower lip and looked at her mother intently, then nodded her head and said, "Sweet."  
  
Molly turned to Ginny and said, "All right, then, you have a go on me."  
  
Ginny looked very apprehensive. Molly just laughed and reassured her, "I don't think you can really hurt me the first time, Ginny. And it is the only way. You've got to have some bogeys to work with!"

Ginny grinned and pointed the wand at her mother. She took a deep breath and shouted, "_Chiroptera Mucosa_!" Molly gasped and waved her wand to remove the spell.

"Excellent, Ginny!" Molly declared. "Not a bad first try at all. In fact, it was rather better than I thought it would be!" Molly rubbed her nose with one hand.

Ginny gave a satisfied laugh, then looked up at Molly. She thought for a moment and asked with an embarrassed giggle, "Mummy, did you ever bat bogey Daddy?"  
  
Molly chuckled and paused before answering, "Well, just once. And only because he really, really deserved it, mind." Ginny gawked at her in disbelief. Then, as an afterthought, Molly added, "That was a very, very long time ago, of course."

Ginny giggled. Then Molly looked at her seriously and said, "Now for a word of caution. Spells and hexes work by intent. It's one thing to get your point your across with a brother who's being a prat. It's quite another thing to be mean. And you could really hurt someone with this hex.

"I hope not, but there could come a time when you'd really need to protect yourself and use it that way, but for now, if I hear of anything inappropriate, the wand goes straight back into the trunk. Do you understand me?" Ginny nodded soberly.

Then she ruffled Ginny's hair and said, "Now you need to practice. Practice on the yard gnomes and work on it until you really get the hang of it, but don't let the boys catch you."  
  
Ginny have her mother a big hug and said, "Thanks, Mummy. I love you."  
  
Molly smiled down and her and whispered, "Well, the Weasley girls need to stick together, seeing as how we're so outnumbered, don't we?" She kissed the top of Ginny's head and patted her on the bottom as she scampered out of the room.  
  
Later that evening, Arthur Weasley was on his way home from work and paused at the front gate before going in. For a moment, he just watched his four youngest children playing in the front yard. He smiled with immense pleasure at first, but he quickly became concerned.  
  
The boys, as usual, were teasing poor Ginny. "Where've you been Skinny-Ginny?" George taunted, "We've got a present for you!" Then Ron and Fred ran up with a pail of water and poured it over the girl's head! The three boys laughed hysterically.  
  
Arthur was angry now, and he strode forward to tell the boys off, fully expecting Ginny to burst into tears. He stopped dead in his tracks when, instead, she whipped a wand out of her back pocket. Then, with a determined look, she pointed it straight at the boys, who by now were gaping open-mouthed at their sister, frozen with fear.  
  
"Oh, Molly, you didn't," Arthur muttered under his breath.  
  
"_Chiroptera Mucosa_!" Ginny shouted. There was a loud bang, and all three boys began to scream. Large winged bogeys were flying all around their heads, biting at their noses.

Arthur looked down at his shoes with a smile, "Merlin's beard, she did."  
  
He walked over to the boys, who had fallen to the ground and were rolling around trying to avoid the bogey attack. Ron was in tears, and Fred and George kept looking back and forth from their father to Ginny, spluttering, "Who? What?", all the while swatting ineffectually at the bogeys.  
  
"The who, boys," Arthur informed them casually, "would appear to be your sister. As for the what, well, that would be a simply corking Bat-Bogey Hex." He smirked at them and continued calmly, "And I happen to know it's not very pleasant to be on the receiving end of one, is it?  
  
Ginny was trying hard to keep an angry face, but when she heard that, she began to giggle and then clapped a hand over her mouth. Arthur looked at her inquiringly, eyebrows raised, as if wondering exactly how much she knew about that story. Then he winked at her, and she laughed and ran to him. He picked his wet little girl, then turned to the boys and said, "And I might add that you lot deserved every bit of it."  
  
After a long, dramatic pause, during which he seemed to be contemplating whether or not he should do anything at all, he sighed, waved his wand in their general direction, and muttered, "_Finite Incantatum_," Then he added firmly, "Next time, I won't clean up the mess, either."  
  
The boys looked up at Ginny in astonishment, then Fred ventured incredulously, "Dad, are you telling me that Ginny's bat-bogied you?"  
  
Arthur got a faraway look in eyes, and then replied, "Boys, Ginny is not the only angry little red-haired girl I've run afoul of in my day." He looked pointedly at Molly, who was sitting on the front steps thoroughly enjoying the family drama. The children howled with glee at the prospect of their mum bat-bogeying their dad. For his part, Arthur tried to maintain a stern, disapproving look, but he failed utterly when he heard Molly's musical laugh. He just shook his head and chuckled.  
  
He set Ginny down with a pat on the head and shook out his now damp robes. Then he walked over and dropped down on the step next to his wife, stretched out his long legs, and put his arm around her shoulders. "I suppose it was inevitable, anyway," he commented. Molly collapsed with laughter against his shoulder, and he kissed her on the top of her head.  
  
They sat and watched as their children worked on establishing some very new boundaries for themselves. At first, the boys circled Ginny warily. Then George spoke up, "Say, Ginny, give us a go, right?" "Yeah, show us how to do that one," Fred chimed in.  
  
Disgusted, Ginny just looked at them, put her fists on her hips, and answered, "You must think I'm stupid."  
  
At that, even Arthur laughed out loud. "Now who in the world does that remind me of?"  
  
"Giving a girl a little power changes just about everything, doesn't it, love?" Molly put in playfully.  
  
Arthur looked down at her and murmured, "Changed everything for me, love, that's for sure." Together, they sat and watched as their children ran off to play, and for once, little Ginny was calling the shots.


End file.
